Street Legal Are Grinding Their Teeth
The Adelaide-based break-out on their new EP and the perils of the modern world.
Street Legal (Jack Fenby)
Do you wake up most mornings with an aching jaw, without entirely knowing why?
It could be that you are suffering from bruxism - a common condition where you grind and clench your teeth without realising it. An indication of anxiety and tension. A condition that is quite indicative of the modern world we live in.
Or, so Adelaide-based outfit Street Legal thinks. The band, who have been making waves in the local scene with singles such as the 2024 hit ‘Cardio,’ have just released an EP titled Bruxism.
“I was grinding my teeth at night and I didn’t realise I was doing it until I went to a dentist,” the lead singer Matt Hayward explains.
“There’s a sense of anxiety running through it,” Hayward says of the EP. Though it focuses on “modern concerns,” the sound of Street Legal’s music is retro in that thumping, synth-heavy, drum-centred kind of way.
“There’s an anxious cloud over everything these days,” he says, citing the cost of living crisis, the climate crisis, and general political bedlam.
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A particularly engaging track on the EP, ‘No Gods! No Monsters! No Doorlists! No Bouncers,’ centres on the perils of modern dating.
“Modern romance and dating has become almost gamified, really. It’s become this online pursuit that’s really hollow,” Hayward explains. Dating apps, he posits, have largely removed “the old-fashioned meaning of things,” the importance of “getting to know people.” This culture of “rating people” and prioritising the physical attributes that you see in the photographs that proliferate dating profiles, he worries, is deeply superficial. “You forget what human connection is about, which is not necessarily based on what an algorithm thinks.”
The release of the song was accompanied by a charming, eccentric music video. To create the clip, they worked at Vitalstatistix, the Port Adelaide-based arts organisation. “We always want to support and acknowledge Adelaide's history,” Hayward says.
They recorded the EP at interim studios, working with resident engineer Matt Schultz. “Matt’s the best.”
When discussing the post-production process, Hayward says, “I think it’s important to know when to let your baby go.” Potentially, “over-obsessing” can actually lead one to “wreck” a song if they are not careful.
Street Legal opted to work for UK-based producer Hugo Nicolson, who has worked with such major names as Bjork, Radiohead and Father John Misty. Matt refers to him as an “incredible” mixer and producer - and the finished product does indicate this.
The EP cover features an old family photo from the 90’s of Hayward’s sister, Kate. “I think it was Halloween…I guess the symbolism behind the photo is…I guess it’s about innocence. The music we create is very nostalgic, and there’s a sentimentality there.”
In celebration of the EP release, Street Legal will be hitting the road in April, playing all across Australia.
It is something that the band is looking forward to.
“There’s always a desire to really connect with people and play the best possible show you can,” Hayward says. “You only really have forty minutes to make a connection with someone. That time is fleeting. We live in a world where we are so content-saturated that people’s attention spans are just so fleeting. You have to grab on for dear life.”
And it seems that Street Legal are poised to grab, and to hold on.
“I’m proud of the songs we’ve created. They’re wordly,” Hayward says. “I think they stand the test of time.”
The Street Legal EP ‘Bruxism’ is out now.
This piece of content has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body
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